Why Did The Spanish American War

Political causes are known to be the most affective in starting the war. Due to the short term causes that made history. Without these events the Spanish American war could have been completely changed. Due to the riots that were going on in Havana, Mckinely sent the battleship Maine to protect American lives and property. Soon after it was anchored in the harbor, it exploded, resulting in the deaths of 260 Americans. The American press quickly jumped to blame Spain however there was little evidence found for the explosion. President Mckinely refused to declare war, however many eagerly called for war such as Teddy Roosevelt. This unexpected explosion may seem small, however was a major event in the starting of the Spanish American War. The war message and Teller Amendment was what initially started the war. “In the war message the President rejected the idea that the U.S.A would annex Cuba. “He said this would be criminal aggression and morally wrong”(Allan Hux 295). Congress agreed. “It passed an amendment

Many historians argue that the U.S. took the moral high ground during the war because they set out to end the suffering of the Cuban people at the hands of Spain, citing the crux of McKinley’s War Message. Although this may be true to some extent, the worst of the rebellion had ended by 1898 as the result of a ceasefire agreement and the departure of General Valeriano Weyler; therefore, American interference was needlessly invasive. Some also point to the Teller Amendment as counter-evidence against the imperialistic nature of the war, but, following the war, the Platt Amendment to the Cuban Constitution transformed Cuba from a truly independent nation into a puppet of the U.S. for enforcing the Monroe Doctrine on Europe’s empires. Moreover, the motive to free an oppressed Cuba fails to explain why the U.S. also took action to remove Spain from the Philippines, where no major rebellion was taking place. Although morality may have played some role, its motivational effect was far outweighed by the imperialism and hysteria factors.

The Spanish American war started in 1898 and was a fight for Cuba’s independence which resulted in 379 American casualties in combat. The Spanish American War was justified because of the Monroe Doctrine, Correspondence between the United States and Spain, and the Platt Amendment, which were all created to protect American morals and freedom.

While public tensions before August 1898 were surely high, nothing turned the public against Spain like the tragic blowing up of the USS Maine in Havana Harbor. The lives of 260 American officers and men were lost. The yellow press and American investigators quickly blamed spanish officials in Cuba for the mysterious wreck. Although it is extremely unlikely that the spanish had anything to do with the Maine’s sinking, the War-Mad American public accepted this conclusion out of rage, overwhelmingly persuading President Mckinley to begin the war. McKinley personally did not want to fight a war against Spain, for he had seen enough bloodshed as a General in the Civil War. But the public, encouraged by the Cuban patriotic cause, yellow journalism, and the sinking of the Maine, clamored for a war. Finally, President McKinley yielded and gave the people what they wanted. He believed that the people should rule, even if they don’t know what’s best for themselves. Public pressure was the main reason we went to war with Spain, and the biggest cultivator of public unrest was the blowing up of “The Maine”.

The American people sided more towards the Cubans then with Spain within during the war. There was a big difference between the Cubans and the Spanish people. The Cubans were very poor people who did have much, while the Spanish controlled everything and had everything. This upsetted many people from the poor to the rich, and the Spanish just wanted to do what was right. The War with Spain was ultimately suppose to help the other people and the government. And this War with Spain started to include the Blacks which was gonna end up making things more peaceful and an “era of good feelings”. All Spain wanted was a perfect sound of unity among the people around them without the issues of racism, etc. (document 1) As a step to fix this, the American government try to adopt a policy of neutrality to help with this issue. The Americans reached out for help, but got little in return. McKinley just wanted to help the Philippines. They were unfit for self-government as I said above, and soon as time went on, they would have an “anarchy” and would soon be misruled for so many things. According to Document 3, McKinley just wanted the Philippines to be involved in the church and one night after speaking to God, he figured it all out. He decided that all he could do was to educate them and to provide them with everything he possibly could. (document 3) A lot of the Americans were starting to believe that all the people were ready to start accepting peace and neutrality, that was still yet to come in the years to follow. (document 4) The Spanish-American War had a big effect on a lot of things throughout the 19th and 20th

The Spanish-American War in 1898 was a point where American’s demonstrated their power and true colors. America wanted to free the Cubans from Spain, but it was not purely out of the interest of the Cubans. America was in it for the Philippines. Spain had control of the Philippines, and the Philippines were located in close proximity to China. The issue here was that the Philippines was not interested in having the U.S. around and rebelled against the American forces (47) .The U.S. wanted to capitalize on the economic struggles in China and the Philippines was

There were a plethora of important events that took place that prompted the beginning of The Spanish American war. The war was officially started in 1898, bringing joy to the citizens of America and dismay to then president William Mckinley. Before the war, Cuba had been fighting for independence from Spain. The Cuban’s had already lost in the ten year war earlier, which had been fought to gain their independence from Spain. In the state's, newspapers and other media sources were greatly exaggerating the horrors and atrocities being

Nevertheless the replies at this time of the Madrid government to President McKinley 's demands concerning the pacification of Cuba, notwithstanding the Spanish offer to arbitrate the Maine trouble, led the authorities at Washington to believe that pacification could not be attained without the armed intervention of the United States. The President 's message to Congress . . . . stated the entire issue, rightly considering the Maine disaster a subordinate matter, stated that the only hope of relief and repose from a condition which can no longer be endured is the enforced pacification of Cuba. In the name of humanity, in the name of civilization, in behalf of endangered American interests, which give us the right and the duty to speak and act, the war in Cuba must stop.” “Outbreak Of The War With Spain”, America, Vol.10, Pg.120.

Nationalism was another major factor in declaring war against Spain. Nationalism emerged in the United States and all of its people seemed to support the war. The “yellow press” printed multiple stories of scandals, including the explosion of the Maine in the Havana harbor. The yellow press printed that the Spanish were responsible for this action, which led to the slogan “Remember the Maine.” Nationalism and pride surged within the United States and war became imminent. The “rough riders,” who were volunteers from the United States, invaded the Santiago harbor in order to drive out Spanish ships. They paved the way for the American army and forced Spain to sign an armistice. After the war was over and the Cubans were free, The Platt Amendment was passed. It provided that Cuba had to state in its own constitution that the US might intervene with troops in Cuba in order to restore order and to provide mutual protection. It also promised to sell or lease naval stations to the US. The doctrine of Manifest Destiny also played a major part in the war. The US wanted to expand its country and spread its Anglo-Saxon culture. Imperialism was also part of this objective.

William McKinley was forced to deal with the Spain-Cuba crisis a problem his predecessor Cleveland could not solve. Spain’s oppressive rule over Cuba led the Cubans to revolt in 1895. Spain responded by launching their Reconcentrado Campaign putting over 300,000 Cubans into camps where the Spanish said they could not help the insurgents. Spain’s aggressive attempts to put down the rebellion angered many Americans, who began to raise money and even join the revolt. McKinley wanted to end the conflict but wanted Spain to act humanely, and that any outcome be acceptable to the Cuban people (Millercenter.org). Throughout 1897, McKinley pressured Spain to come to an agreement. Finally in November of 1897 an agreement seemed possible when Spain granted limited autonomy and closed the

The quote "A Splendid little war" by Secretary of State John Hay summarizes the Spanish American War in 1898. While this war could be seen as an act of aggression by the 20th century standards this war was beneficial to the United States of America while being deviating to the Kingdom of Spain for many reasons.

The Mexican-American War was the first war Americans fought on foreign soil. (Staff H. C., 2015) James K. Polk, president at the time, thought the United States had a “Manifest Destiny.” The only problem with his philosophy was that Mexico could not disagree more with America. With battles like Monterrey, Sacramento, and the Siege of Veracruz America was able to advance further in the war. The war lasted for 2

The Mexican-American war, also known as the Mexican war happened between 1846 and 1848 with the participants being United States of America and Mexico. Texas, previously a Mexican state, was the primary cause of the war. A series of disagreements had occurred between Texans and the Mexican government leading to Texas declaration of its independence in 1836. Later, Texas decided to join the United States as the 28th state and this infuriated Mexico. Additionally, border disagreements came up with Mexico claiming the border was at Nueces River while Texas claimed it was at Rio Grande River. James K. Polk, the president, sent his army to protect the border which ended up in shooting between Mexican and American troops. It is after this that

The war initially began in 1895 with the rebellion of Cubans under Spanish control. Accordingly, Spain sent forces to dispel this rebellion, but in vain. Early in the year of 1898, the ship USS Maine was sent to Cuba, and sunk on February 15 of that same year. About a week prior to the USS Maine’s sinking, a letter, written by Enrique Dupuy de Lôme, and famously called the De Lôme Letter2, was released by U.S. newspapers. The letter slandered U.S. President William McKinley, the incumbent at the time, as well as his methods of dealing with both foreign and domestic affairs. Indeed, many, including McKinley, saw this letter as a large sign of disrespect, especially when coming from the Spanish ambassador to the United States. This, coupled with the sinking of the USS Maine, raised the concern of a possible war with Spain. And, as such, Spain declared war on America on April 24, 1898, with the United States following with a declaration of their own the very next day. McKinley’s first decision was not to go into war, but he was forced into it through the pressures of the Democratic Party and his inability to provide sufficient answers concerning the sinking of the USS Maine3. While the declaration of war itself is not always viewed as imperialistic, the actions prior to this were quite imperialistic themselves. It seemed as if the U.S. declared war in response to Spain, whereas in reality if Americans hadn't

The battleship, USS Marine was stationed in Havana’s harbor to protect American interest in Cuba. An explosion destroyed the vessel on February 15, 1898. “A naval court of inquiry blamed the explosion on a mine, further inflaming public sentiment against Spain” (HIS104 U.S. History Since 1877 30-Jun-2008, OL20). Again, the press stirred up the public with stories and headlines of a Spanish conspiracy. American now demanded revenge for the deaths of 266 sailors (Faragher, J., 2008, Out of Many). President McKinley demanded that Spanish government end brutality of the Cuban people, engage in armistice, and promise the eventual independence of Cuba. Upon Spain’s refusal, McKinley asked for a declaration of war. (HIS104 U.S. History, Lecture, 30-Jun-2008, OL20). “In order to assure the world that it was fighting only for the good of Cuba and not for colonial gain, the US passed the Teller Amendment, which promised to make Cuba independent after the war was over” (SparkNotes: The Spanish American War, 1898-1901: Summary).